Meet your March Cool Collector. Each month, we chat to someone with a passion for collecting: vinyl, CDs, DVDs, blu-ray, dust… or any other type of physical media. We love what they’re about, and you will too. Be awestruck, be jealous or just be inspired with new ideas for your own cool collections. 

This month, we meet Staffy: Stockpiling 1000s of CDs, records and guitars (for good, not evil) Staffy has a killer top 10 album list, can be heard shredding in Adelaide band Already Gone and has a refreshingly level-headed approach to collecting. Sit in on our chat and and scribble down +++ musical inspo - there’s a lot. Over to you, Staffy.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in the North Eastern Adelaide suburbs with my partner, two step sons and a rescue dog. I’ve worked full time in community services for the last 3 ½ years but prior to that have had a swag of other jobs. I’ve done everything from baking to running show rides, driving buses, even factory work. 

My favourite job though is that of guitarist for Adelaide band Already Gone. I’ve been with the band for 12 months and we’re just about to celebrate our EP launch on March 10th at the Grace Emily Hotel in Adelaide.

What do you collect and when did it start?

I started collecting from an early age. I was lent cassettes by my parents at 5 or 6 and never gave them back. I would record music from the library whenever I could after that. I bought my first CD at 12 and my first record at 17 which is now 20 years ago.

My collection includes a lot of Australian music (Midnight Oil and Birthday Party), 60s and 70s blues rock (Cream, JJ Cale, Blind Faith, Steppenwolf), Prog rock (King Crimson, Jethro Tull), psychedelia (Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge) and everything in-between. I have recently started buying a lot more blues records such as John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Sleepy John Estes and others, as I’ve grown up listening to blues and it’s such a huge part of my musical passion.

There’s even a bunch of classical and flamenco stuff that I dig in there.

How would you describe your tastes?

Anything that has soul and feeling.

I don’t exclude anything because of what genre it is, I just listen and I either dig it or I don’t. There’s electronic artists in my collection, blues, trip hop, rap, rock, metal, classical, jazz, folk, foreign language albums, you name it. Every one of those artists resonated with me at some point so I bought it. The issue is I now have over 1000 CDs and Records in total, and yet there’s still so much I would love to own. I have a list (I actually do have a list) that could have me buying at least a 1000 other albums.

What's your most prized Item/Possession/collection of items?

There’s a few. I’ve got a ratty old beaten up copy of Last hurrah in the big apple by the Yardbirds. This was a bootleg released by the band after their label released a heavily edited version of this concert. I grew up listening to a worn out old cassette of this so when I found this old beaten up record I had to buy it. There’s also my Mad Season Above

double vinyl with the etched in band name on side four, the limited run 12 inch of Adelaide Band The Dumb Earth from the 90s, the limited blue vinyl. And the circus leaves town by Kyuss. And then there’s others such as my collection of Birthday Party 12 inch EPs and singles. But that Yardbirds record really does it for me.

Tell us about your love of music/movies and what they mean to you.

Playing music for me has always been something that takes me away to another place. I’ve always sensed and felt music and when something is good my skin crawls, I just dig it through my whole body.

It’s always about the feeling that the song brings.

I was singing along to stuff as soon as I could and always wanted to be around music, but seeing the blues brothers and watching John Lee Hooker play Boom Boom outside the soul café when I was a young teenager, man that was a gamechanger. I must have watched that movie a couple of hundred times in my life since. I love how I can be hyper or worked up and I’ll put on some music that will bring me down to earth, or I can feel down and find something that helps with that, or I feel like a bit of noise and there’s something there for that too.

Give us your top 10 albums of all time.

This is a hard one. This really has to be based on what is in my top ten now at this moment in time. Tomorrow would be different.

In no particular order:

1. The Drones – Wait Long by the River
2. Cream - Disraeli Gears
3. Powderfinger – Odyssey Number Five
4. Neil Young – Harvest
5. Cog – The New Normal
6. John Lee Hooker – Chill Out
7. Billy Bragg – Between the Wars 7 inch
8. Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust
9. Gomez – Bring It On
10. King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King

An honourable mention to Shihad’s entire catalogue of releases. I really dig those.

Give us some cool fact/trivia that we don't already know.

I always had an affinity with music which at times bordered on obsession. In 2015 I was diagnosed with Autism and that really helped me understand where this passion came from.

It explains why I feel so drawn to playing music and the feeling I get from those moments when the band comes into perfect harmony. It’s indescribable!

It also explains why my obsessions can become fixations. I’ve had to put the brakes on myself at the moment as I currently have 10 guitars. But there is one more I will buy before I leave it at that. At least until the next one comes along…

How do you store your collection?

There’s a Swedish chain store (we all know who it is) that sells a flat pack storage units that are four boxes by four boxes. It holds records perfectly and you can stack four piles of CDs in each cube. There’s also space for a turntable and amp on top.

What are you coveting? What’s your holy grail? Do you own it yet?

At the moment I’d love to get my hands on a copy of Hooker and Heat (John Lee Hooker in the studio with Canned Heat). It’s not hard to come by but I just haven’t got around to forking over the large money for a copy yet.

I’m also a big Joe Walsh fan and don’t have any of the first three James Gang albums which he played on. They are a must have at this moment in time.

Anything else you'd like to tell us?

I’ve never worried too much about condition or price. As long as the record or CD looks playable the cover can be dragged behind a truck for all I care. Everything I have gets played at some point just like my guitars so I don’t ever look for overall condition. I look at playability instead. I can never see the point of having a great record that I could never listen to. It’s there to be enjoyed.

Massive thanks to Staffy for sharing his collection & stories with us.

Hey, we're searching for our next Cool Collector. You interested? Email us and let us know! If we feature you on our blog, you’ll get $50 to spend in our store!